2020 Reflections from the DRA Executive Director
“Wow – what a year” is a major understatement for 2020. This has been a year filled with some incredible highs and somber lows. A high for us at the Deschutes River Alliance was our Annual Auction and Gathering in February. It seems so long ago that we were all able to gather and celebrate the river we all love. Our work is able to continue in large part because of the funds we raised on that Saturday in February. In 2021 we will be hosting a virtual auction on February 20. You will be hearing about the details in the coming months – please sign up for our email blast via our website and follow us on social media if you haven’t yet. Support from folks like you will allow our work to continue beyond 2020.
This newsletter is our annual donor update – a look at the past year and a glimpse into our future work. We have, despite unique circumstances, continued to fulfill our mission to protect the ecology of the lower Deschutes River. At this point we are a well-oiled machine of volunteer board members, staff and outside consultants. This newsletter is filled with articles about our current work but I would like to highlight a few of our strengths.
Our legal team of four attorneys, including our new staff attorney Ben Kirsch, have been firing on all cylinders. Not only have they filed our appeal in the Federal Ninth Circuit Court (in which I have tremendous confidence and you should too) they have also explored other legal options. And they have come up with some good ones. We will be rolling those out as time and resources warrant.
DRA continues to monitor the fish returns and they are quite frankly abysmally low. In this newsletter you can read about why these low numbers will never result in a successful fish reintroduction program. It is utterly ridiculous that 100 miles of wild and scenic river is abused in the name of getting only 50 steelhead back a year.
Through our science we continue to be the watchdogs for the river. We continue to monitor the water quality of the lower Deschutes and this year will be continuing benthic sampling work – DRA is the only organization doing this important work. There was transition on our science team as Wesley Noone left us to pursue a master’s degree and Robert Casey returned to us to continue the solid work of the team. As with all the transitions this past year, DRA has adjusted as needed and continues to fulfill our commitment to the river.
We can only accomplish all of this with the continued dedication of our supporters. At the DRA we run a really tight ship – we accomplish a lot on a shoestring budget. When you donate to the DRA, you can rest assured that you are getting the biggest bang for your buck. It’s vital that we end 2020 financially strong so that we can move into 2021 with confidence.
-Sarah Cloud, Executive Director, Deschutes River Alliance